Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is one of the least effective members of Congress, according to a new survey conducted by a nonpartisan organization that promotes legislative efficacy.
The study: The Center for Effective Lawmaking ranked all 240 Congressional Democrats on their lawmaking ability – Ocasio-Cortez came in near the bottom at 230th.
- Vanderbilt University’s Alan Wiseman, co-director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, told the New York Post that while Ocasio-Cortez introduced 21 bills, “she was not successful at having them receive any sort of action in committee or beyond committee and if they can’t get through committee they cannot pass the House.”
- “It’s clear that she was trying to get her legislative agenda moving and engage with the lawmaking process,” Wiseman added “But she wasn’t as successful as some other members were — even among [other] freshmen — at getting people to pay attention to her legislation.”
Who was effective? According to the Center for Effective Lawmaking, Sens. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, and Gary Peters, a Michigan Democrat, as well as Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, and retired Rep. Nita Lowey, a New York Democrat, were among the most effective members of Congress.
AOC: While Ocasio-Cortez has quickly become one of the most recognizable figures in Congress, her public profile hasn’t translated to “substantive” governance – at least as far as the Center for Effective Lawmaking and her critics are concerned.
- “Tweeting is easy, governing is hard. You need to have friends. You need to understand the committee process, you need to be willing to make sacrifices,” one House insider told the Post. “Her first day in Congress … she decided to protest outside of Nancy Pelosi’s office.”
- Another said, “legislation was never her focus. It was media and narrative.”
